Rotary food grater



Oct. 3, 1950 9 A. F. VALENTI 2,524,335

I ROTARY FOOD GRATER Filed Sept. 3, 194a wnz.

2 Huh L M m oooaoooooooooiooa ooooooo o6 oooooo oooooooooo voovov 9900000009 JZEVaZenLZ INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 3, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROTARY FOOD GRATER Angelo F. Valenti, Cleveland, Ohio Application September 3, 1948, Serial No. 47,717 1 Claim. (01. 146-177) This invention relates to graters, and more particularly, has reference to a grater of the rotary drum type, particularly adapted for grating cheese and like products.

By way of background, it may be noted that one difficulty readily observed with respect to rotary graters as presently known is the fact that the products being acted upon will often wedge between the walls of the drum and hopper or other portion of the device adjacent the drum. As a result, it becomes necessary to remove the wedged piece or, quite often, the wedged piece simply breaks up into large flakes that drop into the finely grated material, a result which is hardly desirable.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a grater device for cheese or the like wherein these difficulties will be overcome, the device constituting the subject of the present invention being so formed and arranged as to prevent wedging of the material being grated.

Another important object is to provide a device as described that is of simple construction, readily manufactured at low cost, embodies a minimum of parts simply arranged, and which will be so constructed as not to readily get outof-order.

Another important object is to provide a grater of the character described which is adapted by its novel construction to grate the material more uniformly and more finely than has heretofore been the case.

Still another important object is to provide a grater device that is capable of ready disassembly, so to permit cleaning of its component parts with facility, thus to provide a more sanitary device of this type.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a grater constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse 22 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged top plan view.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the refer ence numeral 5 designates a fiat base, that can b constructed of any suitable material. Rigid section taken on line upstanding therefrom are the spaced parallel end walls 8, which, like the base, can be constructed of wood material or metal material, as desired. The end Walls 8, base 5, and the clamping means for the base together can be considered as constituting a fixed frame supporting the other parts of the device to be described.

At their upper ends, the end walls 8 define the end portions of a hopper, and accordingly, it is preferred to bevel the inner surfaces of the end walls, as at 9, thus to flare the ends of the hopper outwardly to accommodate more efliciently solid pieces to be grated, and also for the purpose of eliminating sharp corners onwhich said pieces might engage.

The lower portions of the end walls 8 define guides for a receiving drawer II) that is slidably mounted upon the base 5 and which is equipped with the nob I I at one end, and with the pivoted latch I2 at the other end. Grated material drops into this drawer, and it is readily understood that upon moving the latch I2 to a position where it no longer engages one of the end walls ii, the drawer can be removed for the purpose of emptying it of said grated material.

Obviously, other receiving means than the illustrated drawer I I] could be provided, though the drawer is preferred because the end walls inherently define guides therefor, with the base providing means cooperating with said guides for the purpose of providing a slidable mounting for the drawer.

Extending between the end walls 8 is the rotatable drum I 3, here shown as being formed of solid material, such as wood or the like. The drum, like the other portions of the device, can be formed instead of metal material, in which instance it would probably best be formed hollow.

Extending from the opposite ends of the drum I3 are the trunnions I 4, these being received in downwardly extended recesses I5 and I6 formed in the end walls 8, thus to provide a journal for the trunnions or gudgeons of drum I3. By forming recesses I5 and I 6, a simple construction is provided that permits rotation of the drum I 3, while yet permitting complete removal of the drum whenever desired for the purpose of cleaning the device, or for substitution of other drums as desired.

Extendin from one of the trunnions Hi is the non-circular lug ll on which is mounted the crank [8, used for the purpose of rotating the drum. Instead of the illustrated hand crank shown, any other drive means, such as pulley and belt operatively connected to a motor could as well be provided, as will be understood.

The side Walls of the hopper are defined by the angularly disposed plates l9. These plates extend between the end walls 8, and can be permanently attached to said end walls. Preferably, however, the plates I9 are removable, also for the purpose of permitting cleaning of the device and removal of the drum I3. To this end, the inner surfaces of the respective end walls 8 are formed with angularly disposed grooves Ell, that receive slidably the end portions of the respec tive plates l9. Thus, the plates can be removed whenever desired for substitution of new plates or for cleaning of the device.

By reference to Fig. 2, it may be noted that the angular disposition of the plates I9 is such that they diverge widely in being extended from the drum l3. This is an important characteristic of the invention, because in cooperation with other features of the device, it prevents any tendency of the material to wedge, during the grating operation, and permits the material to be grated uniformly and finely throughout. Additionally, the plates is as may be noted from Fig. 2 are disposed radially relative to drum l3, and when considered relative to each other, are arranged at a distinct oblique angle of considerably more than 90, degrees.

Referring now to the drum is, this is formed with spurs or teeth H which preferably are extended in rows that are disposed longitudinally of the drum, as readily seen from Figs. 1 and 3. These rows, as may be noted from Fig. 3, are in the present instance not disposed along a line drawn longitudinally of the drum and also parallel to the axis of the drum, but rather, are disposed at a slight angle relative to the drums axis. This also has been found to improve the grating operation, in that all the teeth of a particular row do not come in contact with the material to be grated at one and the same time. When considered in the direction of rotation of the drum, however, the teeth 2| are staggered as seen from Fig. 3.

These teeth can comprise small lengths of pointed wire material or the like embedded in the drum [3 and, like the plates 19, dispose radially of the axis of the drum as seen from Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 2, a clearance space is provided between the inner longitudinal edges 22 of the plates I9 and the drum surface, and this space is preferably no more than just enough to clear the ends of the teeth 2|.

By reason of the particular construction illustrated and described, it has been found that such material as hard cheeses or the like are readily grated with a minimum of difficulty, and in such a manner as to provide for grated material havin desirable qualities of uniformity and fineness. Thus, the important objects of the invention are attained, by a construction consistent with said objects, said objects and purposes of the invention having been stated hereinbefore.

What is claimed is:

In a rotary food grater a supporting frame; a solid drum supported for rotation thereby; rows of teeth extending longitudinally of the drum, said rows being staggered circumferentially of the drum, the teeth of each row being formed from short lengths of sharply pointed wire material embedded in the surface of the drum and projecting outwardly from the drum along straight lines radiating from the center of the drum; and a pair of plates for supporting material to be grated mounted upon said supporting frame and extending toward the drum along said straight lines radiating from the drum center, the inner edges of said plates being spaced from the surface of the drum no greater a distance than barely necessary to clear the points of the teeth, there being below said plates and drum 9. continuous wholly open space for unobstructed gravitation thereinto offood grated between the teeth and inner edges of the plates.

his ANGELO F. X VALENTI.

mark Witness to mark:

FREDERICK A. ZORLA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED. STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 133,585 Keagy Dec. 3, 1872 722,840 Hammer -l Mar. 17, 1903 1,129,223 Payne Feb. 23, 1915 2,110,589 Colburn Mar. 3, 1938 

